04 Mar The Starboard Wins World Championship

Did you know that The Starboard has an official over softball team? Well we do! Our over 60 team won their second consecutive Tournament World Championship. The team is composed of members from the Old Tymers Softball League, and hey swept the Tournament of Champions (ToC) for Senior Softball USA (SSUSA) 60+ Division going up against six other teams from the US and Canada who had all previously won major championships.

Olde Tymers Softball (OTS) League, a 60+ softball League, is based in Dagsboro, Delaware. The league itself is 21 years old, and the Starboard tournament team, which competes nationally, is mostly comprised of players from within the league. Keith Purdy who is player/manager explains, “We are really proud of our league and tournament team because we are a self funded league and we also don’t handpick players from other states to complete on our tournament team, which can be a pretty standard practice.”
While Kent and New Castle Counties in Delaware both have departments of Parks and Recreation for creation of public leagues like senior softball leagues, Sussex County does not. OTS knew that it would have to be a self funded enterprise, which is no easy feat. It takes 13 partial sponsors and player dues in order to run the seasonal league.

Additionally, the tournament team is separately funded. So when Purdy and player/GM Boog Laird decided to create a tournament team five years ago, Steve ‘Monty’ Montgomery, owner of The Starboard Restaurant, stepped up to sponsor them. Purdy and Laird say the relationship with Monty and The Starboard is the reason they are able to go and play so many events and win qualifying regional and ultimately world championships.

Purdy says, “Monty has had a huge impact supporting senior softball within Sussex County.” He also notes, “On a personal level, when you have the Starboard name on your shirt, people know it no matter where we travel. We love when people approach us with a story about The Starboard.”
During the ToC this year, The Starboard’s team didn’t lose single a game. They played through five straight games without a loss. They scored 113 runs in 5 games, even with a cap of 5 runs per inning. The team really pulled together for a complete and consistent effort and came out with the big win.
Laird, talks about the team’s win this year, “Our second consecutive world championship was nice, but more importantly, we had no injuries over a long weekend in Florida. Being our age, staying active and healthy, as well as the camaraderie, is more important than winning the ring.” But, of course, winning the World Championship title doesn’t hurt, either.